What Happens If You Have Too Little Cobalt?

If you have a cobalt deficiency, this also means you have a vitamin B-12 deficiency. Anemia is a main cause of a cobalt and vitamin B-12 deficiency. This is the case with pernicious anemia. Symptoms can include numbness, severe tiredness (fatigue), and tingling in your hands and feet.

Why does the human body need cobalt?

Cobalt forms part of the structure of vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 has several important functions including making red blood cells and releasing energy from the food you eat.

What effect does cobalt have on the body?

It can harm the eyes, skin, heart, and lungs. Exposure to cobalt may cause cancer. Workers may be harmed from exposure to cobalt and cobalt-containing products. The level of harm depends upon the dose, duration, and work being done.

How much cobalt is in the human body?

approximately 1 mg
The adult human body contains approximately 1 mg of cobalt, 85% of which is in the form of vitamin B₁₂. Human dietary intake of cobalt varies between 5 and 50 μg/day, and most of the cobalt ingested by humans is inorganic, vitamin B₁₂ representing only a small fraction.

What foods are high in cobalt?

Some of the dietary sources that are abundant in cobalt include red meat, milk, fish, cabbage, figs and turnips.

Does vitamin B12 have cobalt?

Cobalt is one of the components of vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin.

Is cobalt necessary for life?

Cobalt is a trace element in the Earth system yet plays an important role in life, being the metal center of vitamin B12, which is crucial to various methyltransferase enzymes.

Where is cobalt stored in the body?

Cobalt is not an accumulating metal, meaning it is stored in the liver and processed out of the body through urine but not stored in the bones.

What does high cobalt mean?

Systemic toxic effects from excessive levels of cobalt include peripheral neuropathy, sensorineural hearing loss, vision loss, cognitive decline, cardiomyopathy, hypothyroidism, weakness, fatigue and polycythemia.

Who has the most cobalt?

The Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the largest cobalt reserves in the world, at some 3.5 million metric tons as of 2021. As the total global cobalt reserves amount to 7.6 million metric tons, this means that the DR Congo’s cobalt reserves account for nearly half of the world’s reserves of the metal.

How do you fix cobalt deficiency?

Preventing cobalt deficiency
Vitamin B12 injections provide the quickest response to treatment. A single injection of vitamin B12 will prevent the development of deficiency for 6–8 weeks.

How much cobalt Do you need a day?

Because of the close relationship with vitamin B12, the daily requirement is sometimes based on the vitamin B12 requirement. The B12 requirement is 2 to 5 µg per day and includes approximately 0.2 to 0.4 µg of cobalt. Other publications recommend an intake of 2 to 100 µg per day.

Which vitamin contains metal cobalt?

Vitamin B₁₂
Vitamin B₁₂ is also referred to as cobalamin, because it contains a metal ion (cobalt). This makes it the largest and most complex vitamin of all.

What are the deficiency symptoms of cobalt?

The common symptoms due to acute cobalt deficiency are paleness, weakness, fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, and subsequent poor growth, shortness of breath, dizziness, scaly ears and watery discharge from the eyes.

What deficiency causes itchy hands?

Both vitamin B12 and vitamin A deficiencies may also cause itchy skin, so if you are experiencing chronically itchy skin, getting your level of these vitamins tested can be helpful. This testing will help determine whether these deficiencies are at the root of your skin sensitivities and itchiness.

What vitamins does cobalt need?

It’s part of vitamin B-12. This vitamin is essential for making red blood cells (erythropoiesis). It also maintains the nervous system. Cobalt is in the body only as part of vitamin B-12.

Can we run out of cobalt?

Cobalt, by nature, is a finite resource: There is only so much that exists in the world.

Will the earth run out of cobalt?

However, as demand increases due to population growth and further development of technologies that rely on these elements, it is likely that supplies will become strained for many elements. Cobalt, Niobium, and Tantalum: The world is not expected to run out of cobalt for much of the foreseeable future.

What is the main source of cobalt?

Congo
With the exception of production in Morocco and artisanally mined cobalt in Congo (Kinshasa), most cobalt is mined as a byproduct of copper or nickel. China was the world’s leading producer of refined cobalt, most of which it produced from partially refined cobalt imported from Congo (Kinshasa).

What diseases can cobalt cause?

* Cobalt may cause an asthma-like allergy. Future exposure can cause asthma attacks with shortness of breath, wheezing, cough, and/or chest tightness. * Cobalt may affect the heart, thyroid, liver and kidneys. * Repeated exposure to Cobalt dust can cause scarring of the lungs (fibrosis) even if no symptoms are noticed.

How is cobalt excreted from the body?

Once absorbed and distributed in the body, cobalt is excreted predominantly in the urine, and to a lesser extent, in the feces.